We are moving from our pretty big mobile home in the Vegas ghetto to a very tiny house in a nice nearby small town. Before I discovered that the local library had upgraded itself over the years to have a decent selection and then the purchase of my Kindle, I kept 99% of every…single…book…ever bought. So now I have twenty years of books to get rid of. I’m going to keep a few of my favorite authors that I know I can’t repurchase on Kindle but for the most part it’s going to be about 300 books to get rid of, a good deal of them of them older, worn paperbacks. There will also be so decent hardcovers, especially Stephen King and Harry Potter series.
I know libraries in general don’t want old paperbacks because it costs more to process them. My next option is Goodwill and that’s what I probably will do but thought I’d get ideas of any place else that might appreciate them since it will be fairly painful to actually put them in a box and send them on their way.
Depending on their policies and your philosophy, your local jail might be able to take them. Or, as suggested, many hospitals or nursing homes might be able to use them. Or maybe even an adult literacy organization.
The SDMB DOES have a Marketplace forum, however, you must be a Member to use it, not a Guest. Depending on how many books you have, and what type they are, you might be able to make a few bucks, even after paying for the membership and shipping and handling.
I’m very fond of old science fiction and fantasy and mysteries, for instance.
If you are anywhere near Baltimore, there’s a place called The Book Thing whose only purpose is to give away books to anyone who wants them (they do of course limit you to taking no more than 150,000 books per person per day ). In return for these free books they want absolutely nothing. No donations, no other books in exchange, no nothing. However, they do accept donations of books or money.
(Note - I have no affiliation whatsoever with them, other than the fact that I periodically take some of their free books)
The library almost certainly wouldn’t want them to add to its collection, but if your library holds regular used book sales, as many do, they would probably accept your donation with open arms.
That’s what I was going to say. Most book donations to libraries don’t go into the collections–they go into used booksales that benefit the library financially.
Operation Paperback - serves all deployed troops overseas, as well as military and VA hospitals in the US. Books For Soldiers - most requests are from troops deployed in warzones - the requests are usually fairly specific, rather than just “send a box” and often include nonfiction requests. Anysoldier - again, predominantly individual requests from troops in Iraq or Afganistan. Sometimes books are requested, and sometimes specifically NOT requested so read carefully when you search for “books” under “where to send”
Post them in Craigslist or offer them to a senior’s community. My parents lived in a desert community where everyone would bring the books they didn’t want to the community center and then others would pick them up to read them. It was a great, free way to discover new authors.
You could also start a book swap at work? We’ve got one in the kitchen. Take a book, leave a book. Or just sit in the kitchen and read what’s there on your lunch break.
Thanks all, great ideas so far. I thought about the Marketplace but I am on a time crunch (need to be packed by first week in June). I’m proud of myself. First book case cleared today. I keep 1 1/2 boxes of books I can’t really give up so far and have 4 boxes set aside for donations. I’m going to do the other half tomorrow. I am leaning so far back to the library, I hadn’t thought of the book sale possibility.
I have never had enough room for all the books I buy and read and for many years have given them away to people I figured would enjoy them or, barring that, the local library. I used to actually claim a tax deduction for the books I gave to the library, figuring it as a non-profit organisation. After years of getting refunds for hundreds of dollars worth of books a year, I discovered I couldn’t claim it. Tsk tsk.
). In return for these free books they want absolutely nothing. No donations, no other books in exchange, no nothing. However, they do accept donations of books or money.